Eusebius Book 2, Section 5

2.5.1

V. καὶ δὴ τὰ 1 κατὰ Γάϊον οὗτος Ἰουδαίοις συμβάντα πέντε βιβλίοις παραδίδωσιν, ὁμοῦ τὴν Γαΐου διεξιὼν φρενοβλάβειαν, ὡς θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀναγορεύσαντος καὶ μυρία περὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνυβρικότος, τάς τε κατ’ αὐτὸν Ἰουδαίων ταλαιπωρίας καὶ ἢν αὐτὸς στειλάμενος ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως ὑπὲρ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ὁμοεθνῶν ἐποιήσατο πρεσβείαν, ὅπως τε ἐπὶ τοῦ Γαΐου καταστὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν πατρίων νόμων, οὐδέν τι πλέον γέλωτος καὶ διασυρμῶν ἀπηνέγκατο, μικροῦ δεῖν καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἀνατλὰς κίνδυνον.

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-23

V. Now this writer has narrated in five books what happened to the Jews in the time of Caius; he has in this work combined the stories of the insanity of Caius, how he announced himself as a god and perpetrated innumerable acts of insolence during his reign, the misery of the Jews in his time, the mission with which he was himself entrusted to make to the city of the Romans on behalf of those of his own race in Alexandria, and how, when he appeared before Caius on behalf of his ancestral laws, he received nothing but laughter and ridicule, and narrowly escaped risking his life.

2.5.2

Μέμνηται καὶ τούτων ὁ Ἰώσηπος, ἐν ὀκτὼ. καιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας κατὰ λέξιν ταῦτα γράφων “καὶ δὴ στάσεως ἐν Ἀλεξανδρεία γενο- μένης Ἰουδαίων τε οἳ ἐνοικοῦσι, καὶ Ἑλλήνων, τρεῖς ἀφ’ ἑκατέρας τῆς στάσεως πρεσβευταὶ αἱρεθέντες παρῆσαν πρὸς τὸν Γάϊον. καὶ ἦν γὰρ τῶν Ἀλεξανοδρέων πρέσβεων εἷς Ἀπίων, ὃς πολλὰ εἰς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐβλασφήμησεν, ἄλλα τε λέγων καὶ ὡς τῶν Καίσαρος τιμῶν περιορῷεν· πάντων γοῦν, ὅσοι τῆ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῇ ὑποτελεῖς εἶεν, βωμοὺς τῷ γαίῳ καὶ ναοὺς ἱδρυμένων τά τε ἄλλα ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸν ὥσπερ τοὺς θεοὺς δεχομένων, τούσδε τούσδε ἄδοξον ἡμεῖσθαι ἀνδριᾶσι τιμᾶν καὶ ὅρκιον αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα ποιεῖσθαι· πολλὰ δὲ καὶ χαλεπὰ Ἀπίωνος εἰρηκότος, ὑφ’ ὧν ἀρθῆναι ἤλπιζεν τὸν Γάϊον καὶ εἰκὸς ἢν, Φίλων ὁ προεστὼς τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῆς πρεσβείας, ἀνὴρ τὰ πάντα ἔνδοξος Ἀλεξάνδρου τε τοῦ ἀλαβάρχου ἀδελφὸς ὢν καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐκ ἄπειρος, οἷός τε ἢν ἐπ’ ἀπολογίᾳ χωρεῖν τῶν κατηγορημένων, διακλείει δ’ αὐτὸν Γάϊος, κελεύσας ἐκποδὼν ἀπελθεῖν, περιοργής τε ὢν φανερὸς ἢν ἐργασόμενός τι δεινὸν αὐτούς. ὁ δὲ Φίλων ἔξεισι πέρι- ὑβρισμένος, καί φησιν πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους οἳ περὶ αὐτὸν ἦααν, ὡς χρὴ θαρρεῖν, Γαίου μὲν αὐτοῖς ὠργιαμένου, ἔργῳ δὲ ἤδη τὸν θεὸν ἀντὶ· παρεξάγοντος.”

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-23

Josephus also relates these facts and writes as follows in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities: “Now when a disturbance took place in Alexandria between the Jews who lived there and the Greeks, three of each side were chosen as representatives and came to Caius. One of the Alexandrian representatives was Apion, who uttered many calumnies against the Jews, saying especially that they neglected to give honour to Caesar, and that while all who are subject to the rule of the Romans build altars and temples to Caius, and in other respects receive him as they do the gods, these men alone think it improper to honour him with statues or to swear by his name. Now, though Apion had made many serious charges, by which he naturally hoped that Caius would be roused, Philo, the chief of the embassy of the Jews, a man of high reputation in every respect, for he was the brother of Alexander the Alabarch and a philosopher of no little skill, was able in his reply to deal with the accusations; but Caius cut him short, bade him get out of the way, and was so enraged that he clearly was on the point of doing serious measures against them. So Philo went out, deeply insulted, and told those who were with him that they must keep up their courage, for though Caius was enraged against them, he was in fact already fighting against God.”

2.5.3

Ταῦτα ὁ Ἰώσηπος. καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Φίλων ad Gai. 24.38 ἐν ἧ συνέραψεν Πρεσβείᾳ τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἀκριβῶς τῶν τότε πραχθέντων αὐτῷ δηλοῖ, ὧν τὰ πλεῖστα παρείς, ἐκεῖνα μόνα παραθήσομαι, δι’ ὧν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι προφανὴς γενήσεται δήλωσις τῶν ἅμα τε καὶ οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν τῶν κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τετολμημένων ἕνεκεν Ἰουδαίοις συμβεβηκότων. πρῶτον δὴ οὗν κατὰ Τιβέριον ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως Σηιανόν, τῶν τότε παρὰ βασιλεῖ πολλὰ δυνάμενον, ἄρδην τὸ πᾶν ἔθνος ἀπολέσθαι σπουδὴν εἰσαγηοχέναι, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Ἰουδαίας πιλᾶτον, καθ’ ὃν τὰ περὶ τὸν σωτῆρα τετόλμητο, περὶ τὸ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἔτι τότε συνεστὸς ἱερὸν ἐπιχειρήσαντά τι παρὰ τὸ Ἰουδαίοις ἐξόν, τὰ μέγιστα αὐτοὺς ἀναταράξαι,

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-23

So far Josephus. But Philo himself also, in the Embassy which he wrote, gives an accurate and detailed account of what happened to him at the time. I shall pass over the greater part and cite only those points which plainly demonstrate to readers the misfortunes which came upon the Jews, all at once and after a short time, in consequence of their crimes against Christ. In the first place he relates that, in the time of Tiberius, in the city of the Romans, Sejanus, the most influential man with the emperor at the time, had undertaken to destroy the whole nation utterly; and in Judaea Pilate, under whom the crime against the Saviour was perpetrated, having made an attempt on the temple, then still standing in Jerusalem, contrary to what was allowed the Jews, greatly disturbed them,